A little politicians and less ‘woke’: Hollywood is silent with Trump

Attack, attacking, attacking was what they did with Trump Many protagonists of the Oscar in other editions. Eight years ago, a month had just spent a month since his first investiture as president, after a campaign focused on the anti-immigrant message, Trump received strong and lazy at the ceremony. Starting with the presenter, Jimmy Kimmela habitual critic of the New York billionaire in his ‘late night’. Acidity, he told him that in Hollywood «we do not discriminate against people for their origin; We discriminate against their age and weight ». It was a moment of great presence of the identity politics – which was the night of the fiasco in the announcement of the winner, which was for ‘Moonlight’, a film about the challenges of being a homosexual black man, and not for the entertaining ‘La La Land’– and multiplied the attacks on Trump.

At last year’s ceremony, the presenter was also Kimmel and the tone, in full electoral campaign, was similar. Instead of a “your time has passed to go to bed,” he dedicated to Trump a “has already passed your time to go to jail,” in reference to the four criminal involvements that the Republican candidate then faced.

A year later, Trump has dodged all its causes and has the White House keys again. But the climate in the Oscar gala is different, in a more signal of the political and cultural change that has accompanied its second electoral victory: a weariness with the identity policy that has dominated the US, a setback of the ‘Woke’ ideology. In Hollywood, the combativeness with Trump seems neutralized and references to the LGBTQ agenda, to the anti -racism or diversity have moderated. It has been seen in this awards season and the Oscars have not been exception.

It could be a film industry strategy. From Los Angeles, they may look at the neighbors of Silicon Valley, north of California, who now sit at Trump’s table. All – not only Elon Musk – have redirected their relationship with the president: from Mark Zuckerberg to Jeff Bezos, Sam Altam or Tim Cook.

A “Adorable” presenter

It is no accident that the chosen one to present the ceremony this Sunday outside Conan O’Briena comedian who does not stand out for his political activism. «It is adorable, the first. He is a humanist. He is apolitical, ”the CEO of the Hollywood Academy, Bill Kramer, about the election, told CNN. “Without a doubt,” he replied when asked if he wanted the Oscars to get away from politics in this edition.

He got it. O’Brien put a lot on his part. In the initial monologue, which is usually loaded with political darts, it barely made a reference to the “political division”, in reference to the reaction to destructive fires in Los Angeles last January. In the rest of the ceremony, a single joke on Trump. O’Brien took advantage of ‘Anora’, the great winner of the night, a contemporary ‘Cinderella’ within the framework of the Russian community of southern Brooklyn, to refer to Trump’s foreign policy: «‘Anora’ He’s having a great night, ”said the comedian. “It seems that Americans are delighted that finally someone raises a powerful Russian,” he added in obvious reference to Trump’s foreign policy, whose relationship with Ukraine has just exploded and that he has approached Vladimir Putin with impudence.

But O’Brien did not even mention the name of the US president in fact, in an US where the word ‘Trump’ is pronounced at every step, it was not heard once in almost four hours of ceremony.

Not that it was a gala devoid of political messages. Impossible that one did not come from the directors and protagonists of the award -winning ‘No Other Land’, a documentary on the resistance of a West Bank enclave to the expulsions decreed by Israel. Palestine Basel Adra and Israeli Yuval Abraham went up to collect the statuette and starred in the most vindictive speech. «We ask the world to take actions to stop the injustice and ethnic cleaning of the Palestinian people,” said Adra. Abraham spoke of the need for a “political solution” and defended that the “foreign policy of this country contributes to hindering that way.”

But they did not refer specifically to the Trump administration policy. Nor did he Zoe Saldaña When a “proud daughter of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard -handed hands” was declared by collecting the award for the best actress. Nor did he Adrien Brodyin the male version, when he spoke of “systematic oppression, anti -Semitism, racism” or when he said he prayed “for a more inclusive world.”

One of the few pinches to Trump, also without appointing him, was when actress Daryl Hannah appeared to present an award and released a ‘Slava Ukraini!’ (‘Gloria A Ukraine’) to defend the Ukrainian cause at a time when the US president seems to abandon her.

But, more than fighting it and perhaps because of the president’s proverbial fortune (his ear knows), the gala seemed to align with Trump’s foreign policy. The triumphal night of ‘Anora’ will be held as a victory of Russia away from home. The writer and screenwriter Latvian Michael Idlov explained a few days ago in ‘The New York Times’ that the success of the film – which had already won, among other awards, the golden palm – “is seen from Moscow as a return of country to the global stage”, in the middle of the approach with Trump and after years of rupture with the West by the war in Ukraine. One of its actors, the Russian Yura Borisov, nominated for the best secondary interpreter, is not critical of Putin and has become a star in Russia. His presence at the gala – was also another Russian actor, Mark Eydelshteyn, protagonist of the film – could be seen as an example of ‘soft power’ in the new relationship between Washington and Moscow.

Another circumstance ran in favor of Trump. Karla Sofía Gascón’s nomination as best actress for her role in ‘Emilia Pérez’ could have put the LGBTQ agenda in one of the ceremony’s care centers. Especially, in full crusade of Trump against the rights of transgender. But the tweet scandal with racist content of Gascón has meant the marginalization of the Spanish actress in Hollywood. At the ceremony, their on -screen appearances were received with minor applause, a contrast with the ovations to Saldaña, their cast partner.

The mordacity that O’Brien was kept with Trump, released it to Gascón. «In ‘Anora’ the word ‘fuck’ 479 times is said. There are three more than the record established by the publicist of Karla Sofía Gascón, ”he joked about the moment in which his tweets were discovered. O’Brien returned for more: “If you are going to tweet on the Oscars, remember that my name is Jimmy Kimmel,” he told the actress. What was going to be a historic night for the transgender community was converted into a squeak.

But it was not just something related to the circumstances of Gascón. Calls to diversity, equity, to the presence of more women or racial minorities among nominees and winners did not have the weight of other editions. Politics and ideology were skimmed. Trump did not go to the ceremony, but the night ended as one of the winners.